Media Centre

Our Representatives

Plamen Petkov is the Vice President for the Ontario branch of Canadian Federation of Independent Business (CFIB). In this role, he leads the Federation’s legislative agenda in the province by representing the views of 42,000 Ontario small and medium-sized business members to all levels of government, business groups, media, and other stakeholders. Since joining CFIB in 2006, Plamen has covered numerous legislative areas, including taxation, regulation, shortage of qualified labour, municipal affairs, agri-business, financing and pension policy. He has also authored several research reports on a wide variety of public policy and economic issues.

Prior to joining CFIB, Plamen worked as an analyst and a consultant in the financial services industry in Toronto. His responsibilities included research and project management; business development; investment planning; and comparative analysis on international business competition.

Plamen holds an Honours Bachelor of Arts Degree in International Relations from York University and Master of Laws Degree in Business Law from Osgoode Hall Law School. He has recently completed an Executive MBA in cross-enterprise management at the Ivey School of Business.

Dan Kelly serves as President, Chief Executive Officer and Chair of the Board of Governors of the Canadian Federation of Independent Business (CFIB). In this capacity, Dan is the lead spokesperson and advocate for the views of the Federation's 110,000 small and medium-sized member businesses.

Dan joined CFIB in 1994 as Policy Analyst for the Prairies and, soon after, became Director of Provincial Affairs for Manitoba. Dan led many files, including the call for balanced budget laws and workers’ compensation reform. In 1999, Dan moved to Calgary to become CFIB’s Western Vice-President and was named one of Alberta’s 50 most influential people while in that role. In Western Canada, Dan led the Federation’s work on the growing shortage of labour, training and immigration, publishing many influential studies on these files. In 2009, Dan took on the role of Senior Vice-President, Legislative Affairs, where he led CFIB's successful campaign to establish a Code of Conduct for the credit and debit card industry. CFIB’s Board of Governors appointed Dan as President and CEO as of June 2012, and Chair in June 2014. In 2015, Dan was named one of the “Top 100 Most Powerful and Influential People in Government and Politics”, by Power & Influence magazine.

Dan has served on dozens of provincial and federal committees and task forces and has represented Canada’s small businesses at the International Labour Organisation in Geneva. He currently serves on Finance Canada Payments Consultative Committee (FINPAY) and the Canadian International Trade Tribunal Advisory Committee. Dan is a regular speaker in Canada and around the world on topics like international trade, the payments industry, and skills and labour shortages.

Prior to joining CFIB, Dan served as a policy advisor to the Premier of Manitoba. In this capacity, Dan gained a great deal of knowledge on the legislative and political functions of government - specializing in rural development, transportation and economic matters.

Dan was born and raised in Winnipeg and graduated with a Bachelor of Commerce from the University of Manitoba. Immediately following university, Dan spent a year living and teaching in northern Japan.

Laura Jones is the Executive Vice-President and Chief Strategic Officer of the Canadian Federation of Independent Business (CFIB). In this position, Laura is responsible for the Federation’s legislative, marketing and communications, research, and IT functions.

Laura believes good public policy is based on a thorough understanding of how policy affects people. She is passionate about issues that don’t get enough public attention, such as the cost of red tape, the impact of municipal overspending and the critical role that small businesses play in the economy. Her solution-oriented approach has led to government implementation of her policy recommendations in areas as diverse as tax administration, regulation and fisheries management.

Laura is an expert on regulatory reform and has led groundbreaking research on the costs of regulation in Canada and in the U.S. Her work in this area has been published by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development.

Laura has served on a number of government committees including the Federal Advisory Committee on Paperwork Burden Reduction, the Federal Red Tape Reduction Commission, the Federal Regulatory Advisory Committee and the British Columbia Expert Panel on Tax Competitiveness. She is currently on the board of the Macdonald-Laurier Institute and CFIB.

Since joining CFIB in 2003, Laura has spearheaded a number of high-profile campaigns on behalf of small businesses, including CFIB’s annual Red Tape Awareness WeekTM and the ‘Park the Tax’ campaign that convinced the BC government to get rid of a new property tax on parking in the Lower Mainland.

As a leader, Laura believes in continually challenging herself and others to grow. She is proud of establishing a CFIB/Scotiabank Internship in Public Policy that gets rave reviews from students.

Prior to joining CFIB, Laura worked for the Fraser Institute where she created a Centre for Studies in Risk and Regulation, developed an annual survey of mining companies, authored book on fisheries management and published a number of policy studies on resource use and regulation.
Laura received her B.A. in Economics from Mount Holyoke College in Massachusetts, and her M.A. in Economics from Simon Fraser University in British Columbia. She has taught economics at Coquitlam College and at the British Columbia Institute of Technology.

Corinne Pohlmann is Senior Vice President, National Affairs and Partnerships for the Canadian Federation of Independent Business (CFIB), a not-for-profit organization representing more than 109,000 small and medium-sized business members across Canada. Corinne is based in Ottawa and is responsible for managing CFIB’s strategic direction on national affairs, and sensitizing governments to the needs of Canada’s independent businesses. In addition to her federal legislative responsibilities, Corinne also oversees CFIB’s Economics function, Products and Partnerships division, including Strategic Relationships, CFIB’s Atlantic Canada legislative team and a number of major marketing initiatives.

Since joining the Federation in 1998, Corinne first worked in research, where she authored several research reports on a variety of public policy and economic issues. In 2000, Corinne became CFIB’s Director of Provincial Affairs for Alberta/NWT based in Edmonton and spent almost six years representing the interests of Alberta and NWT members to all levels of government. Corinne moved to Ottawa in 2006 to pursue her current position.

Since 2006, Corinne has participated in numerous consultations and committees on a wide variety of small business issues, including the SME Advisory Committee to the Minister of International Trade, the Advisory Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship, as well as the Deputy Minister Advisory Committee on Citizenship and Immigration.

Corinne was born and raised in Montreal where she attended McGill University - graduating with both a Bachelor and a Masters Degree in Geography. Prior to joining CFIB, Corinne spent a few years in Ottawa with a national travel trade association, and as a college instructor, before moving to Toronto to start her career with CFIB.